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NOTES for Psa 5

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1 Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
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Addressing the Almighty in prayer, David confesses God's righteousness. In David's time, as probably in every age, people justified their unbelief by claiming that God is indifferent to human affairs. Supposedly, He does not care what we do, and so it is better to be a scoundrel, since that is at least profitable. Addressing God as his King, David glorifies the fact that God is not indifferent to what happens in the world. As in other psalms, David both states his experience and asks for it. He says that righteousness finds blessing in God's sight and that wickedness awaits destruction, while at the same time asking that this truly be so in real life. This distinction between good and evil matters because it leads a person into the House of God, into His mysterious presence, where alone life is possible.

Let us note the logic underlying David's prayer. Instead of doubtfully assuming the worst about God, he chooses the path of trust, on which the experience of each step becomes support for the next. Such faith is not afraid of doubt, because it rests on the real experience of communion with God. Nor does it wait for signs, because it is founded on a person's good will.

Other notes

 
For
2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
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The contrast between the righteous and the wicked is expressed here in terms that some may find not only immodest...  Read more

The contrast between the righteous and the wicked is expressed here in terms that some may find not only immodest, but even tinged with self-satisfaction. Indeed, how can one denounce the evil deeds of others while insisting on one’s own righteousness?

But if we think about it, the psalmist is not nearly as self-assured as one might imagine: he is capable both of repentance and of seeing his own sins. His promise to enter the temple clearly reveals not Pharisaic self-righteousness, but hope in the Lord’s mercy—that He will not allow one who strives to walk in the ways of the commandments to turn onto the inevitable paths of those who deny Him, the paths of evil and falsehood.

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